Notes from around

Last night = fastest four miles EVER. I wasn't super-motivated or energized, oh no. It was just late and ASS COLD outside (for Portland, I mean). I literally sprinted up the first half of Mt. Tabor in an effort to stop shivering. Brrr. I know that it really isn't that cold here, in the grand scheme of winter. Where I grew up we hit ten below a few times a year, and in Moscow it got down to maybe -20, consistently (it was all Celsius, so who really knows?). But its all about what you're used to, and in Portland we're used to 45 degrees and rain, not this 27 degrees and sun thing. When I was in college I studied abroad junior year, Prague in the fall and Singapore in the spring. I left Prague on January 1, spent 36 hours at home in New York, then flew to Singapore. The temperature gradient was about...hmm…sixty degrees. My first ten days in S'pore were miserable, just awful. I was sweating buckets every time I left the sweet embrace of the AC. But then my body figured out that I was no longer in the middle of a Central European winter and hey, maybe I shouldn't sweat out every ounce of moisture I ingest. After that I found the climate quite pleasant (if somewhat boring). Anyway, my point is, it was cold last night and don't make fun of me just because I've been softened by this easy Pacific NW living. I still got out there and ran.

So, a digression: I've been striving for real honesty about my training, and how difficult it is. I have a tendency to sugarcoat things in hindsight, and I want to make sure that I don't do that here. (In case I get the crazy notion to do this again.) The past couple of weeks have been trying, to say the least. But I also don't want to give the impression that this training is nothing but a torturous exercise in masochism. That's just a small part of it. :) In that spirit, here are a couple of notes & shout-outs from my training thus far:
1. To the men who ride their bikes along the Springwater Corridor on Saturday mornings: thank you. Y'all definitely improve the scenery, especially from (ahem) the backside.
2. Thanks to Portland Parks and Rec for creating & maintaining the SC. It's great to be able to go for 40 miles (in theory!) on a smooth, safe, straight trail.
3. A baseball hat is my absolute best friend when running outside. It keeps the sun out, the rain off, and the sleet manageable.
4. Memo to the guy next to me at the gym: if you rest your entire upper body on the sideguards of the treadmill, it doesn’t count as running. Sheesh.
5. Hammer gel is yummy, especially the raspberry and apple-cinnamon flavors. I have not yet figured out how to eat Sport Beans (Beanz?). Do you eat them while running? One at a time? Where do you put the opened pack if you don't eat them all at once?

…Now I just have to steel myself for tomorrow's 12 "Wintry Mix" miles. Prepare for some whining about that one...